Industrial truck



ec. 9, 1947. P. R. GUERIN ET AL INDUSTRIAL TRUCK Filed May 6, '1946 2 Sheets-Sheet l .9, 1947. 5. R. GUERIN ETAL 2,432,411

INDUSTRIAL TRUCK 14 TTOENE Y5 Patented Dec. 9, 1947 i INDUSTRIAL TRUCK Paul R. Guerin and Herman O. Milan-ave, East Cleveland, Ohio, aasignors to Towmotor Corporation, Cleveland, Ohio, a corporation of Ohio Application May 8, 1946, Serial No. 867,848

1 Claims.

This invention relates to industrial trucks of the type wherein a carriage is mounted for vertical movement along a mast carried bythe front of the truck and wherein the movement of the carriage is effected by means of chains attached each at one end to the carriage, extending thence around pulleys carried by a cross head on a plunger mounted in a hydraulic cylinder and having their opposite ends attached to portions of the truck.

It has been found desirable to provide these carriages with attachments which are rendered operative by the supply of fluid thereto through flexible fluid conductors. One instance of the use of such flexible fluid conductors is shown in the patent to Weaver, No. 2,270,664, issued January 20, 1942, wherein the attachment to the carriage of an industrial truck consists of a hydraulic cylinder and a piston for imparting lateral movement to lifting forks with which the carriage is provided and wherein, in order to supply operating fluid to a cylinder thus mounted on a carriage, it has been necessary heretofore to employ hoses as the specific conductors utilized, the hoses being connected to opposite ends of the hollow piston rods and each of which hoses is supplied with operating liquid from a' source of supply mounted on the truck. The hoses have, when so used, been suspended upon opposite sides of the mast. This not only renders a truck, thus equipped, unsightly in appearance, but has necessitated the employment of an unnecessary piston rod. In the said drawing, Fig. 1 represents a side elevational view of an industrial truck with which one embodiment of our invention is employed, showing in broken lines the mast extension in its extended position; Fig. 2 a front elevational view of the said truck with the mast extension in its lowered position; Fig. 3 a detail in front elevation of the mast and a part of the carriage shown in Fig. 2 and. in which another embodiment of our invention is employed; Fig. 4 a sectional view taken on the line 4-4 of Fig. 3; Fig. 5 a detail in side elevation of a portion of one of the chains having applied thereto one of the clips which are employed for securing a hose or'similar flexible fluid conductor to the chain; Fig. 6 a detail in front elevation of a section of one of the chains illustrating the manner in which the clips cooperate with the flexible connecting member; Fig. 7 a detail in elevation of the clip shown in Figs. 5 and 6 and illustrating the manner in which the same is secured to the side plate of a chain link; Fig. 8 a view, similar to Fig. 5, showing a modification of the clip illustrated in the former view; Fig. 9 a front elevational view of a segment of a chain having the modified form of clip attached thereto; and Fig. 10 a side elevational view of the clip shown in Figs. 8 and 9.

Describing by reference characters the various ,parts shown herein, l0 denotes one of the side members. of an industrial truck II, the latter having pivotally supported thereon the usual mast comprising lower side members i2 and the vertically reciprocable extension thereof the side members ofwhich are indicated in broken lines at i3 in Fig. 1 and the tops of which side members are connected by a cross head I. The lower side members of the mast are pivotally supported from the front end of the truck in the conventional manner.

I6 denotes generally a carriage which is mounted for vertical movement along the mast and is shown as provided with forks I'I projecting forwardly from vertical hangers IS, the said vertical hangers being provided with hubs l9 by which their upper ends are slidably mounted upon a guide rod 20 supported by side members 2! of the carriage. The hubs are shown as connected by sleeves 22, the abutting ends of which sleeves are in turn connected, as by bolts 23. 24 denotes a cylinder located immediately above the sleeves 22 and having its ends interposed between the hubs I9 and mounted on the hollow piston rod members 25, 25, the ends of which are supported by brackets 26 secured to the carriage, and by means of which piston rod members pressure fluid can be supplied to opposite sides of the piston (not shown) through hoses 21 and 21 communicating with the outer ends of the said pistonrod members respectively and supplied with liquid from a tank 28, pipes 28 and 28 and suitable valve mechanism 29. By

be shifted laterally as a unit with respect tothe carriage by movements of the cylinder. The manner in which pressure fluid is supplied through hoses to opposite sides of the piston for shifting the cylinder and thereby the forks on the carriage is substantially the same as shown in Weaver Patent No. 2,270,664, and its illustration herein is intended to exemplify one of the uses to which our invention may be applied.

30 denotes a hydraulic cylinder located between the side members l2 of the mast and having its lower end supported by and between the lower ends of side members l2. 3! denotes a plunger which is mounted for reciprocation within the cylinder and the upper end of which is connected to a cross head 3| the opposite ends of which are provided with pulleys 32. Chains 33 are connected each atnone end to an immovable part of the truck and extend upwardly and forwardly around the said pulleys and are connected at their lower ends to convenient portions of the carriage. By supplying hydraulic fluid to the cylinder 30 in the usual manner, the carriage may be raised and lowered to the desired extent, commensurate with the vertical capacity of the mast.

As shown in Figs. 2, 5, 6 and '1, each of the hoses 21, 21 is connected-to its respective chain by means of a series of combined clips and side plates for certain links of the chain whereby said flexible connectors may be supported by the chain and, by reason of their flexibility, can be bent upon themselves without injury, as the chains traverse the pulleys 32. The links, except for the special side plates, are identical with those which are employed in well-known makes of industrial truck'for raising and lowering'the carriage by means of cylinders 30 and plungers 3|.

Each chain consists of a plurality of cylindrical link blocks 36 which are interposed between the opposite ends of pairs of inner side plates 34. The opposite ends of each pair of inner side plates and the blocks therebetween are connected to the blocks and to the ends of ,the inner side plates of adjacent links by means of pairs of outer side plates 35, the outer side plates of one of said pairs overlapping at one end thereof one of the first mentioned blocks and also the ends of the first mentioned inner side plates between which said block is inserted, the outer side plates of the other pair overlapping at one end the other of the first mentioned blocks and the corresponding ends of the first mentioned inner plates, and the opposite ends of the pairs of outer side plates extending to and overlapping the ends of the inner plates and the blocks therebetween of the adjacent links, the ends of the overlapping plates and the blocks being united by pins 31 passing therethrough and being provided at their inner ends with heads 31 and their opposite ends projecting beyond the outer side plates and having openings 31 therethrough for cotter pins 31. However, in order to enable the chain to accommodate the special form of clip shown in Figs. 5, 6 and '1, we have substituted for some of the outer side plates 35 special side plates 38 providing the same with ears 39 projecting outwardly at right angles from opposite sides of the same and the ears having aligned openings 39 for the reception of the cooperating portions of the clips. These clips, designated generally at A, are each made of spring wire and comprise each a substantially circular looped outer portion 40 of a size to receive therewithin and frlctionally engage the exterior of' a conductor, such as one of the hoses 21, 21 This circular portion projects outwardly from two narrow laterally extending loops 4|, from the ends of the pins 31.

lower ends of which loops there extend le s 32, 42, respectively, which are adapted to engage the outer side plate 38 when the loops 4| have been inserted into the openings 39 by compressing the lower -sides of the loop 40 toward each other a sufllcient distance to enable these looped portions to enter the said openings. It will be noted, from Figs. 5 and '1, that the legs 42, 42 extend in opposite directions whereby each engages the side plate 38 on opposite sides of the plane of the major circular loop 40, thereby retaining the major loop at right angles to the plane of the side plate.

In practice, it has been found unnecessary to substitute the special outer side plates for all of the regular side plates of the chain. It has been found practicable to make such substitution at such intervals as will enable the hoses to be effectively supported.

In Figs. 8, 9 and 10, we have shown a modification of the clip shown in the preceding views and which enables us to utilize existing chains by which carriages are raised and lowered without any alteration whatever in the construction thereof.

The parts of the chain in these views which are identical with the like parts in the preceding views are designated by the same numerals. The clip comprises a coil, indicated generally at B andhaving ends 43 adapted to replace the cotter pins 31 and to be inserted in the openings 31 provided for such cotter pins in the outer From these ends 43, the clip is formed into a coil comprising one or more circular convolutions 44 the axis whereof is in the plane of the ends 43 and which convolution or convolutions are adapted to receive and grip the flexible conductor.

In operation, as the carriage is raised and lowered, the bights of the chains 33 will move about the pulleys 32 and the conductors, being flexible, conform to the changing positions. assumed by the parts of the chain during the movements of the carriage. Where the attachment to the carriage which is to be served by these conductors is a lateral fork shifter, such as exemplified herein, the conductors will be the hoses 21 and 21"- and the forks may be shifted laterally of the carriage by supplying fluid through the said hoses to one end or the other of the hollow piston rod rmembers 25, 25.

Obviously, the chain-clip constructions 'Tshown and described herein can be utilized for the support of any other flexible conductor '(such, for example, as an electrical cable conduit) for supplying operating fluid to any type of attachment which may be mounted upon the carriage.

Having thus described our invention, what we claim is:

1. In an industrial truck of the type having a mast, a carriage mounted for vertical movement on said mast and hydraulic means for raising and lowering the carriage and comprising a cylinder element and a piston element one of which elements is vertically reciprocable with respect to the other and which reciprocable element supports at its upper end a pair of laterally spaced circular members mounted for rotation about horizontal axes, chains each secured at one end to a portion of the truck and extending upwardly about the said rotatable members and downwardly to and connected with the said carriage and a fluid-operable attachment on said carriage; flexible fluid conductors extending from the said truck to the said attachment, and means securing the said conductors to their respective chains, at spaced intervals therealong, from points adjacent to the attachment of the chains to the truck to points adjacent to their attachment to the carriage.

2. In an industrial truck of the type having a mast, a carriage mounted for vertical movement on said mast and hydraulic means for raising and lowering the carriage and comprising a cylinder element and a piston element, one of which eletherealong, fluid conductors mounted in said clips I and connected with the said attachment, and means on the truck for controlling the flow of fluid through the said conductors.

3. In the industrial truck recited in claim 2, the clips being secured to the outer sides of the chains from points adjacent to the attachment of the said chains to the said truck to points adjacent to their attachment to the carriage.

4. In the industrial truck recited in claim 2, the clips each having ends secured to the respective chains and each having a central gripping portion interposed between the said ends and adapted to engage and support a portion of the conductor therewithin.

5. In the industrial truck recited in claim 2, the clips each having a substantially circular conductor-receiving and gripping portion projecting outwardly from the portion of the chain to which it is attached.

6. In an industrial truck of the type having a mast, a carriage mounted for vertical movement onsaid mast and hydraulic means for raising and lowering the carriage and comprising a cylinder element and a piston element, one of which elements is vertically reciprocable with respect to the other and which reciprocabl element supports at its upper end a pair of laterally spaced circular members mounted for rotation about horizontal axes, chains each secured at one end to a portion of the truck andextending upwardly about the said rotatable members and, downwardly to and connected with the said carriage and a fluidoperable attachment on said carriage; each chain within and extending through the apertures for the pins of certain of said links and provided each with a coil consisting of one or more circular convolutions interposed between said ends and each of said convolutions being adapted to engage the exterior surface of a fluid conductor therewithin.

7. In the industrial truck recited in claim 6, the clips being secured to the said pins from points adjacent to the attachment of'the chains to the truck to points adjacent to the attachment of the chains to the carriage, and means for controlling the flow of fluid through said conductor.

8. In an industrial truck of the type having a mast, a carriage mounted for vertical movement on said mast, and hydraulic means for raising and lowering the carriage andcomprising a cylinder element and a piston element, one of which elements is vertically reciprocable with respect to the other and which reciprocable element supports at its upper end a pair of laterally spaced circular members mounted for rotation about horizontal axes, chains each secured at one end toa portion of the truck and extending upwardly about the said rotatable members and downwardly to and connected with the said carriage and a fluidoperable attachment on said carriage, each chain having links consistingof side plates with blocks interposed between the ends thereof and pins extending through the ends of, the side plates and through the blocks, certain of the outer side plates being provided each with flanges projecting outwardly from the sides thereof and having transversely aligned openings, and clips of resilient material comprising each a substantially circular loop for the reception of a conductor, the inner ends of said loop being bent outwardly and inwardly to provide narrow loops adapted to be received in the said apertures and the inwardly bent portions of the narrow loops having each an end adapted to engage the outer surfaces of said outer plates, the said ends adapted to engage the said surfaces on opposite sides of planes including said openings and perpendicular to the planes of said surfaces.

9. In the industrial truck recited in claim 8, the clips being secured to said outer plates from points adjacent to the attachment of the chains to the truck to points'adjacent to the attachment of the chains to the carriage, and means for controlling the flow of fluid through said conductor. v

10. In the industrial truck reci ed in claim 2, each clip having an arcuate portion adapted to receive and support a portion of the conductor therewithin.

PAUL R. GUERIN. HERMAN C. MUSGRAVE.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the 

